"That defense is not a good fit for a lot of people who are still down there. It wasn't just about me,'' Reed said. "And my comments were not just about me. Obviously, that's why I'm not there anymore because people felt some kind of way about what I said.

"The truth is the truth. And that's the reason why what happened last week happened. They know I know.''

Reed was referring to comments had made after the Texans lost to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 10. "Certain situations we just got outplayed and outcoached,'' Reed said after that game. He was released two days later.

Now, one week into his tenure with the Jets, Reed blamed his release on Phillips, who benched Reed after the nine-time Pro Bowl pick had just 16 tackles in six starts. Reed had signed a three-year, $15 million free-agent deal in March after 11 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. He missed most of Houston's offseason and training camp practices while he recovered from hip surgery.

It's clear Reed is bitter about his short stay in Houston.

"The ball really wasn't coming my way,'' Reed said. "People try to point out a play against San Francisco when Vernon Davis scored. The guy wasn't even my guy. He's not even my man. Granted, I didn't catch him, bad angle. But they're looking for every reason to put everything on Ed Reed. And that's funny to me. And it's funny I was speaking in the third person about that.''

So did he ever have a sit-down with Phillips?

"Yeah, Wade said something to me. He came in and basically made sure that I was leaving, and, honestly, he's probably the reason I'm not there,'' Reed said. "It's all good. I'm not worried about it."

Reed was confident he would have found a job even if Jets coach Rex Ryan - who was once Reed's defensive coordinator with the Ravens - didn't sign him. "I'm pretty sure somebody would have called," Reed said. "I wasn't ready to go play golf.''

But he's glad Ryan threw him a lifeline. "Coming from the situation I came from to a coach that understands you and respects your game, respects the players as men, it's a good thing to be back around knowing the whole league is not that way,'' Reed said.